Hit-and-run driver kills two, injures one in Lagos

Tragedy struck twice on Saturday morning on Igi-Olugbin Road, Bariga area of Lagos State, after a commercial bus driver, identified as Awe Idowu, killed two persons and injured another in a hit-and-run accident.

Eyewitnesses said it was like a horror movie. Idowu was said to have hit his first victim around Ladi-Lak, Bariga, but he refused to stop.

Some commercial buses and motorcycle riders were said to have chased him and while he accelerated to avoid them, he crushed another motorcycle rider, Samson Akinwale, who was carrying a passenger around the Moshalashi Bus Stop.

While the passenger had a cut to his cheek, 28-year-old Akinwale was said to have collapsed.

An electrician, Benjamin, who works opposite the scene of the incident, said he heard a loud bang and rushed out to see what had happened.

He said, “It was around 11am. I heard a loud bang and rushed out of my shop to see what was happening. I saw that a commercial bus had hit an okada man (motorcyclist). The bus was half filled with passengers, while the okada man had a passenger at the back that had fallen to the ground. I saw that the okada rider was under the bus, blood gushing from his body. People were pouring water on him, to see if he could be revived, but he did not get up.

“The other man he was carrying only had a cut to his cheek. One of the passengers in the bus told me they had been warning the driver against reckless driving, but he didn’t listen to them.”

PUNCH Metro learnt that the driver came down from the bus to see the extent of the damage, and on seeing Akinwale half dead, climbed into the vehicle, reversed and sped off again.

Another eyewitness, who identified himself as Leke, said, “He drove through Moshalashi Street, and hit another pedestrian, breaking his leg in the process. He did not stop. It was when he got to Olorunkemi/Adifase junction when he was about to take a sharp bend that the bus fell into a ditch.

“Some commercial bus drivers, who saw him hit the last man without knowing he had crushed two other people, went after him and smashed bottles on his head. The other people running after him then caught up with him at this point and they all descended heavily on him, damaging his bus.”

Policemen from the Bariga Police Station were said to have arrived at the scene and saved him from the swelling crowd of motorcycle riders, area boys and residents.

 Akinwale was said to have been rushed to a private hospital, where he was rejected. He was later taken to the Gbagada General Hospital, where he was confirmed dead.

Our correspondent learnt that angry youths and friends of the deceased took Idowu’s vehicle to Oremerin Street, broke the windscreen and poured salt on the engine.

One of Akinwale’s friends, Rasak Kareem, recalled that the Ibadan, Oyo state indigene, had only called his aged parents on the telephone on Friday to say he would send them money for Christmas. Kareem said instead of the money, what his parents got was his corpse.

PUNCH Metro learnt that his corpse was first taken to the Bariga police station, before it was taken to Ibadan same day for burial.

The first victim was said to have died at the Gbagada General Hospital on Saturday evening, after sustaining a spinal cord injury.

Our correspondent spoke with another friend of late Akinwale, Segun Adetola.

“We took the corpse to Ibadan on Saturday afternoon shortly after the incident. It was all mourning and crying. He was buried in his father’s compound,” he said.

Adetola said the family of the deceased had left everything to God, as they did not believe in the country’s justice system.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, confirmed the accident and the arrest of the driver. She added that Idowu would soon be charged to court.

Copyright PUNCH.